Against All Odds
by No Stranger
Summary: Lily wants a change. James wants Lily. Sirius wants more food. Remus wants to find Ms. Right. Peter just wants to be known as cool. (As if that’d ever happen! Ha!) They resolve that they’d get what they want even if it’s against all odds.


**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Marauders, Lily Evans, or anything Harry Potter related, they are all creations of the great J.K. Rowling. All hail J.K. Rowling! All I own is the plot, and some of the characters!

**Summary: **Lily wants a change. James wants Lily. Sirius wants more food. Remus wants to find Ms. Right. Peter just wants to be known as cool. (As if that'd ever happen! Ha!) They resolve that they'd get what they want even if it's against all odds.

**Against All Odds**

**Chapter 1 – A New Beginning for All**

Seventeen-year-old Lily Evans stared at her own reflection and sighed. She always looked the same. Her waist length auburn hair was straight until the ends, where it curled slightly in a gorgeous way. Her emerald green eyes were stunning as well; men seemed to be lost in their depths. Her creamy skin was free from blemishes, except for the tiny sprinkle of cute freckles on her feminine nose.

She ran a brush through her silky hair wishing it were blonde instead of red. She applied a bit of lime green eye shadow on her eyelids, wistfully wondering what she would look like if she had blue eyes instead. She added a tint of rouge to her pale cheeks dreaming her skin was the golden tan as her friend Jasmine Willows.

_But no, _she thought to herself as she put on her dark blue denim skirt and smoothed down the fabric. _I'm just Lily Evans, the redhead with eyes like a fresh pickled toad. I'm no blonde bombshell; I'm just poor pathetic Lily. _

Her pity party was disrupted by a whiny exasperated voice. "LIIILLEEE! Get your arse down here, you little freak or you'll be late for your train to your freak school!"

"Yes, Petunia! I'm coming!" she called back, picking up her light green body bag from her bed and examining her reflection one last time.

She was wearing a dark green sleeveless blouse with a large daisy in the middle and a knee- length skirt with a frayed bottom. Her hair was up in a high ponytail and she had several different colored bracelets on her wrists. Applying some kiwi-strawberry lip gloss, she smacked her lips and went downstairs.

Somehow, she knew this year would be different from her previous six years.

James Potter lazily got out of bed and yawned.

_What date is it today?_ He wondered to himself as he scratched his head.

He looked at the calendar hanging on his wall and suddenly felt wide-awake.

"Shit! September the first! I totally forgot! Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit! Damn it all!" he exclaimed as he started to panic, bouncing from one end of his room to another.

After a minute, he calmed down and took out his wand from his trunk.

_"Accio clothes!_" he called out as a pile of neatly folded clothes zoomed out of his drawers and into his arms.

He hastily put them on and grabbed his Hogwarts things, which included his trunk, his owl, and his precious Thunderbolt broomstick.

With a loud "pop!" he Disapparated to King's Cross station without the thought of being seen by muggles bothering him.

Sirius Black was having the most pleasant dream ever. He was in the arms of a beautiful blonde-haired woman with sparkling blue eyes. They were about to kiss when suddenly something heavy fell on his chest.

"AAAARRRGGGHHH!" he screamed opening his eyes.

His friend, Remus Lupin, had just Apparated into his room and was sitting on him.

He managed to calm down after a second. "Remus, as much as I like your incredibly heavy weight on me, could you please get off me? And while you're at it, tell me what's the bloody idea of going for a little visit in MY bedroom in nine in the morning."

Remus smiled sheepishly and quickly got off his friend. "Padfoot, honestly, you think I like being on top of you. You are one helluva weirdo. I just came to remind you that today is September 1 and seeing that you are not dressed yet it brings me to the conclusion that I was right about your forgetfulness. Ha!"

It dawned on Sirius after ten minutes what his friend meant. "Oh my god! September first? Today? I've got to get dressed!"

Remus watched in utter and slightly cruel amusement as Sirius accidentally put his head through the armhole of the shirt he was trying to put on.

"Would you be kind enough, Moony, as to help me?" he snapped, obviously annoyed.

He just grinned. "Sure thing, Padfoot. As soon as I take a mental picture of how you look like right now to laugh at later."

"Ha ha! Very funny, witty! Help, now, please?"

"Fine, whatever you say, Si."

With Remus's help, Sirius, by a miracle, finally got dressed.

Sirius looked at his pocket watch. "We gotta go, Moony. It's almost ten."

His friend nodded and they Disapparated into the driveway of Sirius's small flat where a large motorcycle was, and left for the station.

Lily got out of the silver Mustang convertible her sister usually drove and grinned as many males whistled at her. Sometimes it paid to travel in cool cars, even if your older sister was a big prat.

She waved a quick bye to her sister and started walking through the barrier.

"Lils! Over here!" she heard a voice call, and she turned around.

A tall girl with golden blonde fair, sun-kissed tan skin, and sapphire blue eyes waved at her. She was wearing a denim jacket over her hot pink tank top and faded jeans, which went well with her dragon hide cowboy boots and matching cowboy hat.

She quickly ran over and embraced the girl like a close sister she never had. "Jazz! I missed you so much! You haven't changed a bit over the summer, although your hair grew longer, but that's beside the point! Oh, we haven't gone shopping together for ages! Let's go next Hogsmeade weekend! It will be so much fun! I need to buy more supplies, oh, and I need a new dress robe for the Year End Ball this year!"

Jasmine laughed and gave her friend's hand a tight squeeze. "Whoa, slow down, tiger! First of all, we just saw each other at Diagon Alley last week, which means we _have _seen each other in weeks! Second, we also went shopping together there too. Third, the Year End Ball is at the _year end _and we haven't even started the first term yet! Lily, you are just so enthusiastic about some things!"

The girl just grinned sheepishly. "I know, it's just that, I mean, it's our last year at Hogwarts."

"So?"

"Well, I want to make this the best year ever, even if it's against all the rules they have in this school. I don't care. I want it to be magical and just basically have fun. Are you in with me?"

"Hear! Hear! I am so with you! You go girl!"

Jasmine suddenly pulled her friend by the arm. "Come one, Lils! Mary is waiting for us! I bet she already found us an empty compartment and is buying us a feast right now from the lady with the cart. Come on!"

James brushed the dust of him as he Apparated into the train station. Luckily, there were so many people with so many different agendas that no one heard him or even saw him.

_Yeah right…_

Sirius suddenly grabbed him by the collar and hissed into his ear.

"Crazy fool! The muggles could've seen you! Why didn't you Apparate to _my _flat instead so we could go together? But no, you had to Apparate right smack in the middle of King's Cross station!" Sirius hit him in the shins for his stupidity.

Remus did the same. "Prongs, you have to be more careful! You could be expelled for crying out loud! Is this the way you want to start the year? _Expelled before first term!_ That's the most preposterous thing I've ever heard, but if it happened to you, I'd believe that even pigs can fly! What kind of Head Boy are you?"

James rubbed his sore part with his palm and winced. His friends were displeased; he didn't need anyone to tell him that.

He grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, guys! Really I am, I woke up late and didn't think of muggles. All I was worried about was catching the Hogwarts Express on time. I don't want what happened in our third year happen again, y'know? Forgive me. Please." He looked at them with his trademark puppy dog eyes.

Sirius hit him again. "James, you bloody idiot! You already know that that bloody puppy dog pout doesn't work with us! But since we _are _supposed to be your best friends, we forgive your bloody carelessness! C'mon! Group Hug!"

Sirius tried to embrace the two, but Remus managed to wriggle out of the so-called "death squeeze".

_Poor James, _he thought to himself. _I wonder if he can still breathe. Oh well! I wonder where Kira is._

Kira Figg was a seventh year like himself, but a Ravenclaw. Her family was one of the most famous wizarding families in Great Britain. She had a cousin though, Arabella, a squib, who sadly wasn't able to get into Hogwarts, or any wizarding school for that matter and was forced to live as a muggle.

Kira and Remus were childhood friends, and often mistaken as more than that. Not that Remus minded though, although many good-looking girls would throw themselves at his feet, he was still looking for "Miss Right", who wherever she was, didn't seem to want to show herself just yet.

As soon as Sirius let go of his victim and James caught his breath, Remus beckoned them through the Barrier, for it was five minutes to ten o'clock.

Lily and Jasmine went into the last compartment and eagerly sat down beside two girls.

One had a petite frame, shoulder length raven black hair and soft doe eyes that she hid behind silver framed glasses. She was very pretty if you took the glasses away, yet she never let anyone, claiming only the one she'd fall for would be the one to take them off her. She was clad in a powder blue peasant blouse and a long flowing white skirt. Her wavy hair was tied up in a neat bun at the base of her neck. Her name was Mary Williams.

The other was a brunette with short chestnut brown locks and kind hazel eyes. She had on huge rose tinted glasses, a tie dye t-shirt and camouflage pants. She also had big chunky earrings and shoes with heels so high, you'd think she'd trip any second. She was wearing a blue bandana over her curly hair and had several beaded bracelets on her wrists. This girl, on the other hand was named Kira Figg.

Both girls gave Lily and Jasmine big hugs.

Jasmine and Mary went to buy some food, while Kira kept on complimenting Lily on her fashion choices. Kira was the school's _fashonista _"Oh, Lils! I see you still have that obsession for green! That's good 'cause it goes with your eyes! I just love that eye shadow! It makes your eyes more noticeable! I bet more boys would be falling for you this year than usual. Oh, and I just like love the shirt, the flower is so cute. More like the girl next-door look…your skirt are sure in style, it _is _the seventy's. Totally groovy."

Lily laughed. "Thanks, Kira, you look good as well. I see you're going for the 'rebel look' this year, ay?"

Every year Kira had a new look. In first year, it was 'cute chic', second year was 'modern romantic', third was 'sporty but sassy', fourth 'classy', fifth she had 'formal casual', and sixth year was the 'campus heartthrob'. For that girl, changing her image, including hairstyle_ and _wardrobe was just as easy as changing clothes.

Suddenly, they caught sight of the two girls return.

Lily's eyes opened saucer wide as they helped dump the treats on a chair. It was a mountain of pumpkin pasties, Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Chocolate Frogs, Licorice Wands, Cauldron Cakes, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, and the most delicious goodies imaginable.

Jasmine grinned as she bit into her frog. "Sho, guysh, Lils hash thish greatf plan for ush!" she cried out through a mouth full of chocolate.

Kira and Lily chuckled as Mary bit back a smile. The shy girl swatted the other one playfully on the arm. "Jazz, you mustn't talk with your mouth full. Not only is it quite rude, no one can understand quite what you're saying!" Mary scolded playfully as she unwrapped a Sugar Quill from her bag and began sucking on it.

Jasmine put her hands in the air in mock surrender. She swallowed and repeated her words in a more understandable manner. "As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted by Mar over here due to my rudeness," she smirked at that and continued. "While we were making our way over here, Lily told me all about this great idea of hers which I think you guys would love!"

"Come one, Lils, don't leave us hanging on in suspense, tell us!" came from an excited Kira.

"Yeah! Tell us, please, please, please. With sugar on top, and cherries, and chocolate frogs, and ice mice, and Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, and lemon drops, please! Do tell us!" Mary whimpered. She always got hyperactive whenever she took in sugar in her system.

_ That girl and her obsession for sugar… _Lily thought as she sighed and took a deep breath. "All right, all right. I'll tell you. It's not liked I snogged Snape or anyone, not that I'll ever do something as disgusting as _that_, mind you. Well, you see, I was thinking and since this _is _our last year here at Hogwarts, we should make it the best. I'm determined to have fun no matter what, so screw the rules!"

Her friends looked at her in shock. Never had they heard such a rebellious side of Lily before. Throughout all their Hogwarts years, Lily always had perfect attendance, perfect grades, and she _never ever _had detention or broke the rules. Hearing Lily like this was just like hearing Lucius Malfoy wanting to learn how to dance the hula. It was totally weird and awkward, but they liked it.

The girls did their secret group handshake and smiled. Somehow, they knew this year would be interesting.

The Marauders were bored. James was bored. Sirius was bored. Remus was bored. Heck, even Peter was bored!

It was their seventh Sorting Ceremony they'd witnessed and after a while, it wears out on you, especially if you don't know anyone being sorted.

James yawned and focused his attention to his watch. _When would the blasted thing end?_

"Zywone, Zion!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

McGonagall rolled up her scroll as Professor Flitwick carried the stool back to Dumbledore's office.

Professor Dumbledore cleared his throat and made his usual announcements. James was quite bored with it and was about to fall asleep when the sound of clapping reached his ears. He looked up.

"Now, I hope you that train ride here! There's a time for falling asleep on the table during Sorting, but since that was over, now's the time to tuck in!"

"Finally! Thank the Goddesses!" Sirius exclaimed when the food appeared. "Food!"

James looked in disgust as Sirius stuffed himself with so much food you'd think he'd explode. He took the moment to look around and his jaw dropped when he saw Lily.

Sure, she's always been pretty before, but now she looked even more beautiful. Her eyes seemed to sparkle and her hair looked like a waterfall of flames cascading down her back. She seemed to have grown taller during the summer and oh gosh-those curves! They were to die for! At that moment, he was determined to make Lily fall for him, whatever it may take.

Remus watched James's intense stare at Lily and smirked in a wolfish way. This was sure going to be an interesting year. His gaze fell on a lone petite figure beside Lily. A lovely creature she was! With long dark hair and dark eyes! That had always been his weakness. What was her name again? Ah, yes…Marry Williams, his fellow prefect.

The mere fact that he had never noticed her before until that day intrigued him. He wanted to know her and maybe become friends, or maybe even more than that.

Mary felt a tingling sensation, as if she was being watched. Cautiously, she looked up to meet the blue eyes of Remus Lupin.

She smiled shyly and blushed crimson when he nodded and smiled back. She looked down again and resumed her eating.

Remus Lupin was one of those guys she wanted to talk to for so long, yet never had the courage to even approach. Heck, the only people she ever talked to were Lily, Jasmine, Kira and a few of the teachers. She didn't know why, but usually she felt so scared of people and Peter Pettigrew was one of them. She had a bad feeling about him. She could feel his involvement in something bad in the future right in the marrow of her bones.

Sirius was choking on a currant in his pudding. He couldn't breathe. Suddenly a pair of white arms went around him and did a Heimlich maneuver on him. He spat the offending fruit on the ground and was about to thank his savior, when he stopped.

The girl who saved him looked _exactly _like the one in his dreams that morning! Could it be that they were meant to be or something? Or was he dreaming again?

He smiled charmingly at her and extended his hand. "Hello, I'm Sirius Black. Have we met before? You look familiar."

She flashed a smile right back and shook his hand. "Name's Jasmine Willows, friends call me Jazz. I don't think we've been introduced before, even though you _are _immensely popular and we're in the same house…"

"Well let's take this opportunity to do so then, Jazz! May I call you Jazz?"

"Sure, if I can call you Si."

"Why not?"

They linked arms and left the Great Hall together, the remains of Sirius's "evil pudding" left behind.

Albus Dumbledore smiled at his students from the high table where he usually sat. With a twinkle in his blue eyes, he observed Mr. Potter and Ms. Evans. Something was going to happen between the two of them and he knew it.

His gaze traveled to the quiet Ms. Williams and Mr. Lupin who looked fascinated with her. Something would be going on between them too.

His smile got broader as she witnessed Ms. Willows and Mr. Black walk out of the Hall together like old friends, even though he was sure they had never met before until that day.

Things were sure going to be different at Hogwarts this year. This year _definitely_ wouldn't be boring. After all, he was an old man who loved excitement.

**Author's Notes: **Please review. This is my first L/J fic, so please be gentle. I accept constructive criticism. Leave any questions, comments, and suggestions in the review. Special place at the end of each chapter for reviewers! Mwah!


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